{"id":23013,"date":"2017-11-15T16:34:03","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T20:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/?p=23013"},"modified":"2017-12-15T14:54:51","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T18:54:51","slug":"the-criterion-collection-announces-february-2018-releases-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2017\/11\/15\/the-criterion-collection-announces-february-2018-releases-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Criterion Collection Announces February 2018 Releases"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For next Valentine’s Day, The Criterion Collection has announced some gruesome delights, including The Silence of the Lambs, which was originally released on Valentine’s Day 1991 and is also, having once been a Criterion DVD release, finding its way back from its long holiday in Out Of Print land.<\/p>\n

The blurbs are from The Criterion Collection\u2019s website (so are the links)\u00a0\u2014 go there to see the details on the supplements.<\/p>\n

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February 6, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>Elevator to the Gallows<\/b>\u00a0<\/em>(1958)
\n<\/em>d. Louis Malle<\/p>\n

From\u00a0The Criterion Collection<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

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For his feature debut, twenty-four-year-old Louis Malle brought together a mesmerizing performance by Jeanne Moreau, evocative cinematography by Henri Deca\u00eb, and a now legendary jazz score by Miles Davis. Taking place over the course of one restless Paris night, Malle\u2019s richly atmospheric crime thriller stars Moreau and Maurice Ronet as star-crossed lovers whose plan to murder her husband (his boss) goes awry, setting off a chain of events that seals their fate. A career touchstone for its director and female star, Elevator to the Gallows<\/em> was an astonishing beginning to Malle\u2019s eclectic body of work, and it established Moreau as one of the most captivating actors to ever grace the screen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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February 13, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The Silence of the Lambs<\/i><\/b> (1991)
\n<\/em>d. Jonathan Demme<\/p>\n

From\u00a0The Criterion Collection<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

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In this chilling adaptation of the best-selling novel by Thomas Harris, the astonishingly versatile director Jonathan Demme crafted a taut psychological thriller about an American obsession: serial murder. As Clarice Starling, an FBI<\/span>trainee who enlists the help of the infamous Hannibal \u201cthe Cannibal\u201d Lecter to gain insight into the mind of another killer, Jodie Foster subverts classic gender dynamics and gives one of the most memorable performances of her career. As her foil, Anthony Hopkins is the archetypical antihero\u2014cultured, quick-witted, and savagely murderous\u2014delivering a harrowing portrait of humanity gone terribly wrong. A gripping police procedural and a disquieting immersion into a twisted psyche, The Silence of the Lambs<\/em> swept the Academy Awards (best picture, best director, best screenplay, best actress, best actor) and remains a cultural touchstone.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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February 13, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Night of the Living Dead\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(1968)
\n<\/em>d. George A. Romero<\/p>\n

From\u00a0The Criterion Collection<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

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Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, Night of the Living Dead,<\/em> directed by horror master George A. Romero, is one of the great stories of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero\u2019s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, Night of the Living Dead<\/em> is back, in a new 4K restoration.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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February 20, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The Hero<\/b><\/em> (1966)
\n<\/em>d. Satyajit Ray<\/p>\n

From\u00a0The Criterion Collection<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

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In this psychologically rich character study, written and directed by Satyajit Ray, Bengali film star Uttam Kumar draws on his real-world celebrity to play Arindam Mukherjee, a matinee idol on the brink of his first flop. When Mukherjee boards an overnight train to Delhi to accept an award, a journalist (Sharmila Tagore) approaches him seeking an exclusive interview, which initiates a conversation that sends the actor reeling down a path of self-examination. Seamlessly integrating rueful flashbacks and surreal dream sequences with the quietly revelatory stories of the train\u2019s other passengers, The Hero<\/em> is a graceful meditation on art, fame, and regret from one of world cinema\u2019s most keenly perceptive filmmakers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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February 20, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"An Actor’s Revenge\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(1963)
\n<\/em>d. Kon Ichikawa<\/p>\n

From\u00a0The Criterion Collection<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

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A uniquely prolific and chameleonic figure of world cinema, Kon Ichikawa delivered a burst of stylistic bravado with this intricate tale of betrayal and retribution. Set in the cloistered world of nineteenth-century kabuki theater, the film charts a female impersonator\u2019s attempts to avenge the deaths of his parents, who were driven to insanity and suicide by a trio of corrupt men. Ichikawa takes the conventions of melodrama and turns them on their head, bringing the hero\u2019s fractured psyche to life in boldly experimental widescreen compositions infused with kaleidoscopic color, pop-art influences, and meticulous choreography. Anchored by a magnificently androgynous performance by Kazuo Hasegawa, reprising a role he had played on-screen three decades earlier, An Actor\u2019s Revenge<\/em> is an eye-popping examination of how the illusions of art intersect with life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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February 27, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Tom Jones\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(1963)
\n<\/em>d. Tony Richardson<\/p>\n

From\u00a0The Criterion Collection<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

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In the early 1960s, at the height of the British New Wave, a movement whose gritty realism they had helped establish, director Tony Richardson and playwright John Osborne set out for more fanciful narrative territory. Tom Jones<\/em>brings a theatrical flair to Henry Fielding\u2019s canonical eighteenth-century novel, boisterously chronicling the misadventures of the foundling of the title (Albert Finney, in a career-defining turn), whose easy charm seems to lead him astray at every turn from his beloved, the wellborn Sophie Western (Susannah York). This spirited picaresque, evocatively shot in England\u2019s rambling countryside and featuring an extraordinary ensemble cast, went on to become a worldwide sensation, winning the Oscar for best picture on the way to securing its status as a classic of irreverent wit and playful cinematic expression.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>

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